Chapter 22 The One where Florence is Confused
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Florence groaned in annoyance as she opened her eyes, reaching up and pulling the piece of fabric that had been draped over her head off of her. She cast the tweed jacket aside and rose to her feet, wobbling as she tried to find solid ground and not the mountain of clothing she had awoken in. Muttering under her breath as she straightened her pinstripe jumpsuit from where it had twisted in the fall, she looked at herself quickly in the mirror before grabbing a pair of trainers from the shoe rack and rushing out of the wardrobe to find out where she had made it to this time. The cool metal walls of the TARDIS hallway suggested it wasn't too long (or far or however it worked with jumping) but similar to the TARDIS she had entered only an hour or so earlier, she paused at one junction momentarily to shove her trainers onto her feet and calling out to see if the Doctor was around, receiving silence in return. It took only a few more twists and turns before the sound of voices echoed from a room up ahead, the thick Scottish brogue of the Doctor commandeering the conversation with the ease and bluster she had become accustomed to after their recent adventure. She turned into the console room and stepped over a bunch of books that were littered along the walkway as she walked down the stairs, catching sight of the Doctor as he spun on his heel with a flourish of excitement,
"Florence!" He greeted, as if she had some sort of tracker only he could sense. "Finally! I have found-" He was cut off by an angry brunette looking all dolled up in a little black dress.
"Oh thank god you're here!" Clara gushed, grabbing her arm and dragging her away from the Doctor's side.
"Oi!" The Time Lord yelled after them.
"What's going on?" Florence asked curiously, and Clara sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Sometimes, when you're gone for too long," she explained, "he gets… philosophical!"
Florence frowned suddenly, looking at Clara intently. "How long's that then? I can't have jumped far, I was just with you two in…" She paused, thinking about how to word it without giving much away. "Medieval England?"
"Oh! With Robin, yeah, that's the last time I saw you too!" Clara bit her lip. "It must've been longer for him maybe, I don't know…"
"What do you mean 'philosophical'?" Florence brought them back on track, and Clara nodded quickly,
"He kept going on about listening and propositioning and the things you see in the corner of your eye when you're alone!" Florence pulled a face at that. "So creepy! And he dragged me away from a date! A proper date!"
"And the space suit guy?" Florence nodded at the man she had not yet been introduced to, who noticed her stare and gave her an uncomfortable wave.
"That's Danny." She said quickly, before catching herself. "Orson! That's Orson Pink."
Florence raised her eyebrows at her slip up. "And he is?"
"Clara left a trace in the telepathic circuits and that led me to Orson here, now can we stop chatting and start investigating?" The Doctor called out impatiently, tapping his foot against the metal flooring to emphasise his point. Florence gave him an unimpressed look from around the console,
"It's not polite to eavesdrop!"
"It's my ship." He told her plainly, and she smiled at him cheekily, giving the console a friendly pat,
"Well, she likes me more." The Doctor shook his finger at her warningly,
"I knew you were conspiring with her against me…"
She rolled her eyes with a smile. "Where have you brought us, Doctor?" She asked, and the alien grinned, waving them towards the doors in excitement,
"Have a look for yourself…" Florence and Clara shared a look, before Florence motioned for Clara to go ahead of her.
"After you." She prompted, and the two women headed out, the blue doors opening up into a futuristic, if slightly cluttered, space shuttle bathed in a pinkish light coming from the porthole window at one end. Clara and Florence ran over to the window to have a peek at the new outside world, gasping at the sight of red mountains and the dystopian stretch of barren land, emptiness radiating off of it.
"Where are we?" Clara asked in wonder, peeling her face away from the cool glass.
"The end of the road. This is it, the end of everything." The Doctor told them ominously. "The last planet."
Florence's mouth fell open, looking back out the window. "The end of the universe." She breathed, it was incredible really, the thought of this being the end of everything. Of all her time travels with the Doctor, she had never considered the concept of it ending, time always seemed untouchable, like there was always somewhere or something new to see or do. Time didn't just end but, clearly, and inevitably, it did. And she was right there, watching the final planet in all its glory.
"The TARDIS isn't supposed to come this far, but some idiot turned the safeguards off." Florence threw him a smile over her shoulder. "Listen!" He told them, and they all stopped for a moment.
"To what?" Clara asked, looking around slightly panicked.
"Nothing." The Doctor told them, holding a finger up. "There's nothing to hear." Florence frowned before realising her was right, aside from his voice and their general presence, it was silent. "There's nothing anywhere… not a breath, not a slither, not a click of a tick. All the clocks have stopped. This… is the silence at the end of time." Florence jumped in surprised when there was suddenly a clatter, but relaxed when she saw Orson packing a bag with stuff from a locker nearby.
"Then how did he get here?" Clara asked, nodding to the spaceman eager to get the hell out of dodge. "If he's from a hundred years in my future…"
"Pioneer time traveller." The Doctor explained, turning to the computer and sonicking the screen, pulling up news clips of Orson's farewell from his time period. "Rode the first of the great time shots." They watched Orson waving to a crowd dressed in the same orange suit he still wore. "They were supposed to fire him into the middle of the next week." Florence raised her eyebrows.
"And…?" She prompted, the Doctor winced slightly.
"He went a bit far."
"A bit?" Clara asked incredulously.
"A big bit." They watched as Orson spoke to an interviewer, fresh faced and excited. "Look at him now. Robinson Crusoe at the end of time itself. The last man standing in the universe. I always thought that would be me." He shot Florence a quick look. "Again." She rolled her eyes at his inability to keep spoilers from her.
"It's not a competition." Clara teased, and the Doctor huffed slightly,
"I know it's not a competition…" Despite his words he turned away from the screen with a huff. "Course it isn't. Still time, though." Florence laughed and rubbed his back slightly,
"Aww, Doctor, I'm sure we can stop by the final, final moments before naptime." He mockingly laughed before glaring at her childishly.
"Looks like he's packing." Clara commented, nodded over to the lockers still being clearly by Orson, the Doctor shrugged slightly.
"He's been stranded for six months, just met a time traveller. Of course he's packing." As if his ears were burning, Orson zipped up his pack and raced back into the main room, smiling at the Doctor in excitement,
"You can do it, then?" He asked. "You can get me home?" Florence smiled sadly at him, there was hope in his words, but his eyes were guarded, and she could tell he was still sceptical.
"I just showed you, didn't I?" The Doctor asked, leaning against the shuttle's controls casually. "A test flight to a restaurant."
"Yes, but to my family, to my own time?" Orson asked softly.
The Doctor nodded. "Easy. I can do that, can't I, Clara?" He asked his companion, who was looking at Orson with wide eyes, seemingly ready to run from him at any moment.
"He can, yeah." She nevertheless confirmed, but Orson caught her look.
"Is everything okay?"
Clara nodded quickly, and unconvincingly. "Yeah, fine." His eyebrow quirked slightly in disbelief. "I'm fine."
"Do I know you?" He asked, and Florence looked between the two of them strangely, she had the odd feeling like she had missed something.
"No. Nope." Clara said quickly, and Florence motioned a finger between them.
"Are you sure? Because…" The Doctor joined her side looking at Clara oddly,
"Is she doing the 'all eyes' thing?" He asked, pointing at her face. "It's because her face is so wide. She needs three mirrors." Florence slapped his stomach lightly,
"Rude!" She scolded, but couldn't fight the slight smile on her face at Clara's outraged expression.
"We can't leave immediately, though." The Doctor continued, as if Florence hadn't spoken. "The TARDIS needs to recharge."
"Sorry, what?" Clara asked, and the Doctor looked suddenly serious.
"Overnight, that should do it, shouldn't it, Florence?" Florence looked startled at his question.
"Yep, overnight sounds about right." She played along, curious to what he was planning, and he smiled victoriously.
"One more night." He told Orson, who looked wary. "That's not a problem, is it?" He hesitated, before turning away from the Doctor's stare.
"No. No, no problem." He fiddled with the drawstring of the bag, refusing to look back up.
"It's a shame, isn't it?" The Doctor asked him, finally pulling his eyeline back up.
"What's a shame?" Orson asked, while Clara and Florence looked at the Doctor in similar states of confusion.
The Doctor stared him down. "There's only four people left in the universe, and you're lying to the other three." He may as well have been wagging his finger at Orson like a naughty school boy. "It was the first thing I noticed when I stepped in here. Did you not see it too?" He asked the girls. "Shame, Florence, you're usually a lot more observant." Florence crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance,
"Hey!" She was swiftly ignored.
"The universe is dead. Everything that ever was is dead and gone." The Doctor explained, moving to standing in a different part of the room. "There's nothing beyond this door but nothingness forever." He paused dramatically. "So why is it locked?" Florence looked behind him and saw that the door was, in fact, locked. And Orson looked rather scared at the thought.
"Please," he begged, "don't make me spend another night here."
The Doctor approached him quickly. "Afraid of the dark? But the dark is empty now."
"No." Orson shook his head, eyes darting from the door to the Doctor in fear. "No, it isn't." There was a moment of uncertain silence, and Florence looked around the room worriedly, before her eyes landed on the TARDIS.
"Right." She clapped her hands together. "Um, Orson… how about we, er, get you aboard the TARDIS?" She gave Clara a pointed look and the other woman nodded, picking one of the duffle bags Orson had packed and slinging it over her shoulder.
"Good plan! TARDIS needs to recharge, doesn't mean you have to sleep here, Orson!" She smiled brightly and nodded for the spaceman to follow her, which he did, picking up two silver boxes and leaving the shuttle behind him gratefully.
Florence turned to the Doctor once the doors had closed behind Clara and Orson. "So how come we're really staying overnight?"
"Dreams." Was his response.
"Well that's as non committal as ever."
"Have you ever had a dream where you're sure you're not alone, but when you finally think you're alone and you go to step off your bed, you're grabbed by your ankle from something that's been waiting for you under the bed?" He asked without pausing for breath, and Florence physically drew back at the intensity behind his eyes,
"Uh… I don't think so?" He stopped suddenly and looked at her,
"You don't?"
"No." She told him simply. "I don't dream much…" She thought back to the last vivid dream she had had of the hotel. "Not anymore."
"What do you mean?" The Doctor asked, slight worry etched on his face. "Are you not sleeping again?"
"Again?" Florence wondered, looking at him funnily. "When did I stop before?"
The Doctor faltered minutely. "I mean, you told me once, well I guess, Future You told me you weren't sleeping much…" Florence nodded in understanding,
"Gotcha." She smiled awkwardly. "Well, yeah, not much sleep happening between jumping…" The Doctor placed his hand gently just between her neck and shoulder, so that his thumb was pressed reassuringly on her collarbone.
"After this." He promised. "You'll sleep." Florence nodded, mesmerised by his display of affection.
"It would be nice." She smiled slightly, before the doors of the TARDIS reopened and Clara popped out, Orson no longer in tow.
"What are we doing?" She asked curiously, and the Doctor sat in front of the computer resting his chin in the palm of his hand.
"Waiting." He replied, back to his short and vague replies.
Clara collapsed into one of the chairs next to him. "For what? For who?" She asked in quick succession. "If everyone in the universe is dead, then there's nobody out there!"
"She's got a point…" Florence muttered, hopping up onto the ledge of the console, feet resting on the edge of the Doctor's seat.
"That's one way of looking at it." The Doctor replied, and Florence narrowed her eyes warily,
"What do you mean… What's the other?"
"That's a hell of a lot of ghosts." He suggested, and right on cue the reddish hue of the shuttle's lighting was ominously distorted, and a blue colouring took over the space.
"Do you have your own mood lighting now?" Clara asked, looking around sceptically. "Because, frankly, the accent is enough…" The Doctor looked as though he was about to respond, but Clara's face changed from mirth to confusion rapidly. Florence turned to see what she was looking at, her face falling at the sight of black writing scrawled along the edge of the door.
"What the fuck?" She murmured. "'Don't open the door'..." Clara looked at the two of them,
"Where'd that come from?" She asked, but the Doctor was unphased by its appearance,
"It's always been there. It's only visible in the night lights."
"Who wrote it?"
"Colonel Pink. Apparently, at night, he needs a reminder…" Florence whistled lowly,
"That is really creepy." The Doctor shrugged slightly in understanding.
"Six months stranded alone, I suppose it must be tempting." He rationalised. "Company…" He clarified at the girls' confused expressions. A creaking noise echoed through the shuttle, and Florence looked around warily,
"And that?" The Doctor gave her a look,
"What kind of explanation would you like?" He asked her plainly, and Clara laughed lightly,
"A reassuring one to start."
He hummed slightly. "Well, the systems are switching to low power. There are temperature differentials all over this ship." He leaned forward in his seat, looking around curiously. "It's like pipes banging when the heating goes off."
"Always thought there was something in the pipes…" Clara commented, and the Doctor chuckled.
"Me too." He sat back in his chair suddenly. "Who were you having dinner with?" He asked curiously, and Clara looked at him in shock.
"Are you making conversation?" She asked incredulously, and he shrugged.
"I thought that I would give it a try."
"I told you." The brunette told him after a moment. "A date."
"Serious?" The Doctor asked, and Florence laughed breathily,
"I think she is, Doctor, yeah." He waved her off lightly.
Clara laughed at him. "Do I have to bring him to you for approval?"
"Is that how boyfriends work on the TARDIS?" Florence asked, but the Doctor threw her an odd look before turning back to Clara,
"Well, I would like to know about his prospects." He told her. "If you like, I can pop ahead and check them out."
She turned away from him, picking at a loose thread on her jacket. "Frankly, you've already done enough." There was a brief moment of silence, before a wailing screech sounded through the room, making the three of them jump, the Doctor grabbing Florence's ankle in surprise.
He slowly let go, rising to his feet. "Atmospheric pressure equalising…" He suggested, and Florence raised an eyebrow at him,
"Or?"
"Company." He replied simply, and the three of them looked at one another in concern. There was a great sense of eeriness that came over the room in that moment, Florence could feel each individual hair on her arm stand on end as a chill ran down her spine. She took a deep breath, similar to the calming ones she found herself taking when in the middle of the darkness that led her into the Doctor's life, holding it steadily for a moment before releasing it calmly. Clara felt no such calm.
"Why are we doing this?" She asked the Doctor. "Why don't we just go?"
"Because I need to know!" The Doctor told her sternly, and Florence turned to look at him curiously,
"What? Know what?"
He seemed overwhelmed with a thirst for knowledge in that moment, almost bursting at the seams. "Suppose that there are creatures that live to hide -" He looked rather frantically around. "That only show themselves to the very young or the very old, or the mad, or anyone who wouldn't be believed..."
"Okay, s-" Clara tried to interject, but her cut her off quickly,
"What would those creatures do when everyone was gone?" He wondered. "When there was only one man left standing in the universe?" Florence opened her mouth to ask him what he meant when they were interrupted by three loud knocks coming from outside the door. She cried out slightly, jumping to her feet, and the Doctor sidestepped to stand in front of her looking at the door.
"What was that?" Clara asked.
"Potentially, the hull cooling."
"'Potentially'?"
"Believably." The Doctor clarified, before the knocking sounded again. "Someone knocking… Yes." The knocking continued, in sets of three, the consciousness of whatever was out there using three specific knocks frightening Florence more than the knocking itself. It soon turned into knocking and light scraping against the metal of the exterior.
"You don't actually believe all this, do you?" Clara wondered, watching him carefully. "Hiding creatures, things from under the bed."
"Doctor…" She whispered as he moved closer. "I don't understand… what's this got to do with things under the bed…"
"What's that in the mirror, or the corner of your eye? What's that footstep following, but never passing by?" He began to rhyme, and Florence automatically reached out to grab hold of Clara's wrist as the banging continued
"Did we come to the end of the universe because of a nursery rhyme?" She mocked him, trying to be bold but Florence felt her hand slip into her own and hold it tightly. He didn't answer them, instead he listened to the knocking for one more set before taking out his sonic screwdriver and programmed the dock to unlock. The moment the red words flashed on the screen the wheel began to turn, quickly and steadily. "That's you turning it, right?" Clara asked carefully.
"No." He stepped back only an inch. "Get in the TARDIS." He ordered them, and Florence frowned.
"Why?" She asked, she had a feeling she wasn't going to like where he was going with this.
"I have to know."
"Doctor… Doctor…" Clara tried, he two women coming to stand by his side, but he stood his ground.
"The TARDIS, now!" Florence shook her head.
"Doctor, this is ridiculous!"
"Somebody is out there." Clara agreed, grabbing his arm. "Now we know, we can leave!" She began to walk away but growled in frustration when he didn't follow. "Doctor!"
"It's a pressure lock." He theorised. "Releasing it could've triggered the opening mechanism."
Florence pointed at the door in frustration. "We all know that's not true, that is not a mechanism."
"Is there even an atmosphere out there?" Clara asked, and he looked down at her,
"There is an air shell round the ship. Why are you both still here?" He asked them angrily, and Clara stood toe to toe with the Time Lord,
"Because I am not going to leave you in danger!"
"Then you will never travel with me again, because that is the deal!" The Doctor promised her harshly, and she stepped back surprised. "TARDIS, now!" He pushed her away and she ran to the doors, so he turned his attention to Florence. "You too, do as you are told."
"That is not the way this works." She told him angrily, stepping away from him nonetheless and joining Clara at the TARDIS doors, hesitating as she stormed inside. "You're an idiot." She whispered, before following Clara into the sanctuary.
Clara had already begun to run around the console when Florence entered, making a b-line for the screen attached to the central column, and pressing one of the buttons to pull a picture of what was going on outside the walls of their ship up.
"What's happening?" Orson asked, watching the two women stand staring at the man on the screen.
"He's opening the door." Clara replied, and they saw just that happening, a thin black line appearing where the door was slowly opening, the Doctor's coat moving slightly in the artificial breeze caused by the airlock falling. The scanner flicked as the air escaped, the image blurring slightly. "No, no, no, not now! Come on!" She hit the side of the screen a few times in frustration, but the video went grainy and they could hardly see a thing. "Always when it's important!" She moaned, hitting the screen once more as the TARDIS jolted harshly, a klaxon sounding faintly.
"What's that?" Florence asked, looking to Orson for help.
"The alarm." He told them. "The air shell's breached. Stay here." He rushed out and Florence turned back to the screen, flickering in and out of signal but showing the Doctor hanging onto the edge of the console as the air was sucked out of the shuttle. Suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed one of his own just as it let go of the console, and Florence ran to the doors of the TARDIS in time to help Orson drag the Doctor's unconscious body back into the TARDIS.
"Oh god." She whispered as she heave one of his arms over her shoulder while Orson took the other, manoeuvring him onto one of the soft leather chairs to the side of the console. She checked his pulse quickly and relieved to feel steady thumping underneath her fingertips. "Absolute idiot." She ran her hand gently over his cheek, reminded of the time he had been foolish enough to get in the way of a lightning strike, she hoped he wouldn't be out long this time either, but the slight trail of blood on his temple told her otherwise.
"Is he okay?" Clara asked while rushing over and Florence nodded.
"Just out cold. It's only a small cut." Orson stepped back slightly,
"He'll be fine, though." He reassured Clara, gesturing to the cut slightly. "Everything was flying out that door, something probably just grazed him." Clara hummed slightly,
"Could've been that…" They all sounded rather unconvinced. She turned to look at Orson. "What was out there? What were you so afraid of?"
Orson seemingly shook off their concerns with a shrug. "I've been here a long time… My own shadow, probably." Clara and Florence shared a quick look, both bobbing their head in fake agreement. The conscious occupants of the TARDIS turned sharply when there was another rumble, the doors shaking slightly from an unknown force. "That's probably just the rest of the air escaping." Orson suggested, and Clara looked around the room uncertainly,
"You say 'probably' a lot…" She told Orson, just as a rumble sent the time machine rocking slightly.
"We are safe?" Orson asked quickly, looking between the two women. "Nothing can get in here, right?" Florence scratched the back of her neck lightly,
"Probably." She replied, though it almost sounded like a question, and jumped slightly when a hissing noise echoed through the ship.
"Florence!" Clara pointed at her suddenly. "Can't you like.. fly it or something?" Florence gave her a blank look. "You help him all the time!"
Florence held her hands up when Orson looked her way too. "Don't look at me! Not yet I don't!" Orson frowned at the comment but Clara nodded her head and ran around the console instead.
"Right, uh… okay then…" Florence followed her to see what looked like exposed organs of the TARDIS, Clara reached her hands out towards them. "Let's see…"
"Have you got a plan?" Orson asked, looking at the two women strangely.
"Telepathic circuits." Clara explained. "I left a trace in them before."
"So?" Florence asked.
"So apparently…" She slotted her hands into the holes of the weird surface, the lights changing colour as she did. "That can do a thing."
Orson looked sceptical. "What, that's your plan?" Clara merely looked at him in mild frustration,
"It's not a plan, it's a thing." The time rotor stuttered slightly but made no real movement. "Come on… come on, you can do it!" Clara muttered under her breath, the TARDIS rumbling slightly and the lights dimming strangely.
"Uhhh, is this normal?" Florence asked, glancing at the ominous red lighting.
"Maybe?" Clara cried out as the rotor moved, the metal bands at the top moving slowly. "Why's it so SLOW!" She yelled out and Florence fumbled slightly, looking at the more unfamiliar console before catching sight of a permanent feature to the controls, namely a large lever she had seen all the incarnations use before.
"Ah!" She cried, reaching over and giving Clara a panicked look. "Here goes nothing!" She pulled it down quickly and the TARDIS lurched suddenly, Orson yelling out in surprise as it did. The Doctor groaned lightly and the jolting movement and Clara glanced at him quickly in worry,
"Sorry!" She whispered before digging her hands deeper into the controls, holding on as the TARDIS gave another lurch. The spinning stopped almost as soon as it had begun, the ship landing with a thump and Florence let out a harsh breath. "Well…" Clara laughed lightly in relief and ran to the screen again.
"Is that it? Where are we?" Orson asked, and Clara shrugged slightly, pressing random buttons on the screen.
"I don't know. Somewhere else..." She muttered, seeing nothing of use appearing on the screen, she looked at Florence, who looked from the doors back to the screen uncertainly,
"Shall we?" She smiled slightly, the excitement of potentially having flown the TARDIS somewhere else with the Doctor outweighing the worry of the unknown.
Clara nodded, and the two made their way to the doors, before noticing an extra pair of footsteps following, Clara turned and shook her head at Orson. "No, no, no, you stay and look after the Doctor." Orson frowned,
"You can't just go out there!" Florence smiled uncomfortably at the disgruntled man,
"Look, Orson… we're just gonna check it out, we don't belong to the timeline so it's fine." She looked at Clara for support, who nodded.
"Yeah, you don't wanna meet yourself, Orson, it's really embarrassing."
Florence gave him a reassuring smile before dragging Clara away, and back to the doors. They opened with a slow creak and she poked her head out experimentally, looking out to see a dark and dusty barn, basked only in moonlight and the faint light coming from the TARDIS' doors. She stepped out and Clara closed the door behind them, shushing it slightly as it creaked again. The two of them made their way to the raised platform, where there was a small camp bed and the sound of sobbing coming from it. Clara slowly climbed the ladder, Florence looking behind her to see if there was anyone else with them.
"Rupert?" Clara called out softly, for who, Florence had no idea. "Orson?" She tried again, approaching the bed and Florence followed her slowly, looking at the figure curled up under the blanket, clearly the source of the noise.
Before Florence could reach out and touch the figure there was a sound from just outside the barn doors and voices spilled through the gaps.
"Why does he have to sleep out here?" A deep voice asked, and Clara and Florence shared a look of surprise before Clara quickly pushed Florence to the floor, joining her and the two of them crawled under the space under the camp bed just as the door opened.
"He doesn't want the others to hear him crying." Another voice responded, Florence and Clara covered their mouths as they shuffled further into the hay beneath them to hide.
"Why does he have to cry all the time?" The deep voice asked again, as they saw the two figures climb the same ladder the two women had climbed moments before.
"You know why." Was the response as the two stood by the bed.
"There'll be no crying in the army." The woman shushed the occupant of the bed as the crying continued.
"Don't pretend you're not awake." The man whispered harshly. "We're not idiots." Clara and Florence shared a worried look at the attitude of the two adults.
"Come and sleep in the house. You don't have to be alone." The woman told the child, in a much softer voice than she had used previously. "If you can hear me, you're very welcome in the house, with the other boys. I'll leave the door on the latch. Come in any time." The footsteps slowly walked away from the bed, Florence and Clara looking at each other, relieved to have not been caught.
"He can't just run away crying all the time if he wants to join the army." The man continued complaining, voice echoing as they climbed back down the ladder.
"He doesn't want to join the army. I keep telling you."
"Well, he's not going to the Academy, is he, that boy? He'll never make a Time Lord." Were the last words Florence heard before the barn door closed once more, and her eyes widened as the reality of just where they were set in. She looked at Clara in alarm.
"What…?" She whispered, and Clara's mouth opened and closed quickly, at a loss for words. Florence looked at the ground, frowning at the words 'Time Lord' that she had heard. She was confused, this whole adventure had left one great question mark hanging over her head, she had no idea about those telepathic circuits that Clara had used, no idea about the dreams that the Doctor had mentioned, and most recently no idea how she and Clara were clearly hiding under the bed of a young Time Lord (or whatever he must have been called before entering the Academy) who - from the look on Clara's face - may or may not have been the Doctor when said Time Lord had mentioned quite a few times that not only with his home planet destroyed but he was categorically the last Time Lord left. Her head hurt.
Before she could ask anymore questions a faint call sounded from what seemed like inside the behind the TARDIS doors calling out for the two women currently still under the bed.
"Hello?" Came a young boy's voice from above them, the shuffling as he moved. "Who's there? Hello?" Suddenly from the corner of her eye Florence saw two pale feet plant themselves on the floor of the platform, and before she could stop her, Clara had reached out and grabbed the boy's left ankle. Florence automatically gripped Clara's coat as they heard a sharp inhale from the boy above them.
"It's okay." Clara whispered, sounding calmer than Florence knew she felt. "This is just a dream. Just lie back again. Just lie back on the bed. It will all be okay if you just lie down and go to sleep. Just do that for me... Just sleep." She slowly released his ankle and Florence watched with bated breath for him to lie back down, and sighed in relief when slowly but surely his feet pulled back and onto the bed.
The women looked at each other before carefully shuffling out from under the bed, walking towards the ladder when they saw the boy's head half covered by his blanket as he tried to sleep. Clara paused suddenly, when she heard a sob escape him and before Florence could stop her she walked back over to the child and sat at the top of the bed near his pillow.
"Listen…" She whispered to him, Florence lingered at the edge near the ladder, unsure what to do with herself. "This is just a dream... But very clever people can hear dreams. So, please, just listen. I know you're afraid, but being afraid is all right." She stroked his hair gently and rhythmically. "Because didn't anybody ever tell you? Fear is a superpower. Fear can make you faster and cleverer and stronger. And one day, you're going to come back to this barn. And on that day you're going to be very afraid indeed." Florence frowned at this, clearly Clara knew more about this place than she had let on. "But that's okay. Because if you're very wise and very strong, fear doesn't have to make you cruel or cowardly. Fear can make you kind. It doesn't matter if there's nothing under the bed or in the dark, so long as you know it's okay to be afraid of it… You're always going to be afraid, even if you learn to hide it. Fear is like a companion. A constant companion, always there. But that's okay, because fear can bring us together. Fear can bring you home."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out something Florence couldn't quite make out, leaving it on the edge of the bed as she stepped away. "I'm going to leave you something, just so you'll always remember, fear makes companions of us all." She whispered to him finally before turning back to Florence and motioned her to go down the ladder. Florence gritted her teeth, resolved in saving her questions for when they were further from the sleeping child. They walked over to the TARDIS and Clara placed her hand on the door handle, but before she could push it open, Florence covered it with her own.
"What was that about?" She whispered, and the doe-eyed woman looked at her strangely.
"I'm sorry. If you don't know, I can't tell you." Was all she said, before she pushed the door open and walked into the TARDIS, leaving Florence alone in the dusty barn for a moment, she looked back at the sleeping form of the child briefly before following Clara inside.
"What if there was nothing?" She heard Clara ask Orson and the now conscious Doctor, who looked away from her as Florence entered and a relieved look crossed his face. "What if there never was anything? Nothing under the bed, nothing at the door. What if the big bad Time Lord doesn't want to admit he's just afraid of the dark." Clara stepped closer to the Doctor, who looked confused.
"Where are we?" He asked her, moving away and around the console. "Have we moved? Where have we landed?"
Clara stopped him. "Don't look where we are. Take off, and promise me you will never look where we've been." She threw Florence a glance. "And don't answer Florence's questions." Florence turned away at this, sitting in one of the leather chairs.
"Why?" He shot back and she raised an eyebrow at him.
"Just take off. Don't ask questions."
"I don't take orders, Clara."
"Do as you're told." She threw his words from earlier back at him, and he stood his ground for a moment before nodding, moving to press the buttons on the console to get them moving again.
Florence pulled back from her quick hug with Orson Pink as the Doctor returned him home, smiling up at him softly. "Stay safe, Orson." She told him, stepping back in line with the Doctor who shook his hand firmly.
"Maybe lay off the time travel for a while." The Doctor advised, and Orson smirked,
"I'm done with exploring… for now." Clara hugged him happily and laughed.
"Oh it was great to meet you, Orson!" Once she had pulled back the three of them exchanged one final wave with the newly returned time traveller before heading back inside the TARDIS. the Doctor heading straight for the controls to once more take them far away. Florence turned away from the two friends as they chatted about the likelihood of Orson returning to time travel and where the Doctor could drop Clara off next. She stood at the other end of the console room, staring up at the chalkboard that still had the word 'LISTEN' written on it. She hadn't realised how long she had been standing there until she heard Clara call out to her,
"Bye, Florence!" She looked over her shoulder and gave the other woman a shaky smile and held her hand up in farewell.
"See ya, Clara…" The Doctor shared a look with her as she left and once the door closed behind her he cleared his throat awkwardly.
"So…" He began. "Any sign of a headache yet?"
Florence scoffed. "So eager to get rid of me?" She asked him scornfully and he pulled the lever with a sigh.
"That's not what I meant."
"You can't just wish me away when you want to avoid uncomfortable situations." The Doctor shook his head as he steadied the TARDIS in orbit, before stepping towards her.
"I'm not going to apologise for attempting to obey the rules we both agreed on." He told her, and she shook her head in disdain,
"We haven't agreed on anything! I'm just along for the ride clearly!" She threw her hands up. "I had no idea what was going on! And just when I thought I did suddenly I'm in a place I shouldn't be while Clara understands everything!" She ran a hand through her hair in annoyance. "I get it, okay, it's still new for me, and I'm missing so much still but my god I didn't think it would be this hard!" She looked at him wearily. "How am I meant to talk to you about my fear and worries and confusion when we aren't even on the same page! You can't tell me and I can't tell you shit!" She hadn't realised he had gotten closer and closer until she felt his hands rest gently on her shoulders, turning her around to face him. "No! No, it's just… I'm so tired!" She exclaimed, holding her head in her hands. "I'm so tired." The Doctor rubbed her shoulders soothingly before lifting chin to meet her eyes.
"Let me help you." She hesitated for a moment and then nodded, he trailed his fingers from her chin up to her temples, closing his eyes contently. She felt a strange sort of pressure building in her head, not quite the pounding that preluded the darkness that dragged her around the Doctor's timeline but a gentle nudging that forced her eyes to flutter shut without her permission.
And then there was blissful slumber.
Lucky 13 pages and we're done with TOW Florence is Confused! I really enjoyed exploring Florence's confusion in this chapter, and the idea of how annoying it would be to just appear halfway through and adventure let alone one from the latest series (which have so many more call backs to earlier episodes than 9 or 10s adventures)
See you for chapter 23! xo